Since of no creature living
AUDIO
Ensemble of the North; Patrick McDonough, conductor
DURATION
4’45”
INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.) a cappella
POET
Edna St. Vincent Millay
YEAR COMPOSED
2005
COMMISSIONER
Ensemble of the North
THIS IS A MOVEMENT FROM:
Sonnets of the Fatal Interview
ORDERING SCORES
This work is published as a digital score with a performance license. The pricing is based on the number of singers in a choir:
- $55: up to 20 singers
- $110: 21-50 singers
- $165: 51-79 singers
- $220: 80+ singers
- Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
- Specify the number of singers and the name of your choir.
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- Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed PDF within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).
PERUSAL SCORE
Click here
TEXT
Since of no creature living the last breath
Is twice required, or twice the ultimate pain,
Seeing how to quit your arms is very death,
'Tis likely that I shall not die again;
And likely 'tis that Time whose gross decree
Sends now the dawn to clamour at our door,
Thus having done his evil worst to me,
Will thrust me by, will harry me no more.
When you are corn and roses and at rest
I shall endure, a dense and sanguine ghost,
To haunt the scene where I was happiest,
To bend above the thing I loved the most;
And rise, and wring my hands, and steal away
As I do now, before the advancing day.
-
HELIOS • 4’30” • 2 tpts/flugelhorns, hn, tbn, tba
PROGRAM NOTES
In Greek mythology, Helios was the god of the sun. His head wreathed in light, he daily drove a chariot drawn by four horses (in some tales, the horses are winged; in others, they are made of fire) across the sky. At the end of each day’s journey, he slept in a golden boat that carried him on the Okeanos River (a fresh water stream that encircled the flat earth) back to his rising place. The cyclic journey of Helios is depicted in this short work for brass quintet. The first half is fast-paced and very energetic, while the second half is slow and serene, representing day and night.
-S.G.